process PETEcess *now with final*

fans of james jean will roll their eyes at that little gem of a title. anyway, im working on a multi-image article right now, but i wanted to post it on here from roughs to final - at least on of the images - so here goes - this is for an article about career advancement with a MBA (among other things) its a cool article. anyway, here are the roughs i submitted (just two). the first is playing with the idea of a relay race and the baton is replaced with a degree. this was the idea i liked best - but wasnt chosen - i just liked the idea that like in a relay you cant advance without finishing certain parts first.
heres the image

heres the image they went for

So heres the "final rough", photocopied about 10 times. Photocopying is a crucial aspect of how i paint. this would have been sent and approved the same day as the rough rough.


heres the final, it was done about a day or so after the final rough, but i didnt scan it in until the others in the series were finished - maybe i'll post those soon - anyway - here it is! I like how it turned out, but i'd love any feedback any y'all gots fo me.

...i cant think of a cool punny title for this one

this is a quick little turn around piece. the article was about reading, both how reading saves you money (in the sense that books are cheap) but also how it can save you money (you read about tips to spend better, handle your money better, and work with your finances). I then decided (after alot of ideas that didnt work or were cliche (book as piggy bank etc.) that it would be cool if the book also doubled as a cash register, as they handle alot of money, are a good symbol for money and transaction etc. cool job, and pretty fast from rough to final.
alot more soon.
thanks for stopping by!

this sucks ;)

This piece was for an article about bureaucracy and small business. How hard work will yield results, but theres alot of red tape and hoops to jump through before you'll receive your desired outcome.
this was a neat project and i liked the solution idea alot. and man, those lines were a joy to paint...
thanks for coming to visit! stop by again soon!!!
:D

1 of 2

this is a spot, recently finished, its going with a main about global warmings effect on the wine industry. this spot specifically about the relationship of water w/ wine production. the AD wanted lots of white space for this, but other than that was super flexible - great article, awesome AD

more more more

how do you like it, how do you like it

hello friends...

leading in turbulent times

how to manage a nightmare boss

how to navigate the merger and acquisition minefield


Here is a new series recently finished.
This is the first work I've done in a really long time thats had sort of literal solutions instead of conceptual ones, and you know what? i really had alot of fun!!! the AD was really great, he had some fun ideas and is such an easy guy to work with. I had initially come up with some neat conceptual solutions, but i enjoyed the whimsy of these ideas more. Either way, heres the series. lemmie know what ch'all think, and as always, thanks for visiting!

post script - these images include the bleed and the area for text, example in the mine on there will be text in the bottom left. etc.

i know, i know...i havent been posting

But in a way thats a good thing - because it means im busy and dont have time ... or that im lazy. in this case its the busy one. now, check this out - but be sure to come back on the regular, as i'll be posting alot in the next few weeks.
this will be going with an article about giftcards. essentially how some companies were not honoring gift cards they'd sold and the deception involved with that. the AD for this project was great, and allowed me alot of freedom, which was really great. the idea i came up with was a businessman holding the card behind his back, crossing his fingers to indicate a lie - the crossed fingers also finish off the dollar sign that decorates the giftcard - showing not only his deception, but the deception directly involved with the card. either way, i liked the solution. so, like i said more to come soon.

i hate when we fight

this is the first bit of personal work i've done in a while and im so happy i did!! i always heard in school how important it is to do and it really really is - it gives a chance to try new things (even if things turn out the same as they always do)- so for that reason alone its totally worth it. this piece is for couples. it sucks when you fight with your significant other, and can at times feel like a real brawl - this interaction is what spawned this piece - and the thought of turning into an apology card you could give after every time you fight. - however - it is two men - so maybe its best marketed to fighting, homosexual couples. of bffs that "fell off". either way right.

on several side notes i'd like to thank everyone that checks my blog - it really means alot that you care enough to see what i'm up to - thanks!!
i also wanted to mention that fellow illustrators and friends Yuta and Nimit killed it all summer and are making some awesome work - its seriously blowing me away guys. and Mark - post that new promo! and Jos - im glad you're posting more! and vicki - take that iphone job!!! etc etc.
love in this club,
pete

dangerous vaccinations

for an article about dangerous vaccinations
more to be posted soon!
thanks for looking at my blog!!!!!!

Man=Man

this was for Yale School of Drama, for the play Man=Man. In one part of the play two soldiers dress up like an elephant (with a blanket, gasmark, helmet, guns and rope) to escape from being held captive. The director wanted a dark circus feel - so the sketch was made showing the "elephant" balancing on a ball (bomb). Thanks to illustrator Scott Mckowen for the hook-ups and help.
If you dont know Scotts work - check it out - he's AMAZING

Hey, I had an art show yesterday and tonight...

and sold 14 pieces!!!!
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
sweet mary!
I'll post some pics on the asap!

Nutrition

This piece was for an article about how nutrition effects mood and mental health.
I had alot of freedom so that was alot of fun.
More work to come soon - things are busy
acrylic.......aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

lets work together

sorry i've taken so long to update - i always mean to - i've just been super busy - there for my blog takes a backseat - but stay tuned - im going to post lots more new stuff soon - anyway - here is the image of my fall mailer with the tagline - "lets work together" - i like the idea alot.

back to normal

This piece was for an article about looking forward to the olympics.
i really had fun doing this one - first time trying a few things - mostly the way the binochulars were handled.
its all painted etc. and back to regular size - about the size of a piece of paper.
holler

news

just finished working on a poster for the band "wolf parade" which i will post soon - it was a collaborative poster with four other montreal based artists - one was good friend Jack Dylan (www.jackdylan.ca). Anyway the idea was an exquisite corpse - all of the styles are pretty different so it will be cool to see what people come up with - as their pats are covered until everyone is done. Other than that i have another cool piece that was about the olympics which will be posted in a few days.
thats about all thats new.


*edit* heres the poster - guess which part i did? I tried to illustrate myself in the small portion that i painted - the font looks bad - but i had nothing to do with that - infact the whole poster sort of looks bad - i think its hard for m not to be in total control of the finished product - i see too many things id change.
whatever though right.

the secret handshake

blessed is the secret handshake
acrylic...and pretty large.

finally posted

heres that blackberry piece finally posted - it was a really fun one to work on. the article was about investigating the new blackberry - you know like its features etc - i sort of pictured this hardy boys-esque scene with someone peering into this cavernous space thats actually where the screen would be. its a really big piece - gottab be over a foot and a half tall - so working this large allows one to really just screw around and get right in there. anyway, thats it -
100% acrylic...obv.

artistaday.com

hey i was featured on artistaday.com, a very very cool website - although the feedback was minimal it was good and it made me really happy!

hey hermano(s)

Im working on a really cool illustration right now about "investigating the new blackberry and i thought id post the sketch work...you know...just to keep things fresh. also will be sending out my first mailers this week which i am excited about - the whole sorting through magazines thing etc is such a nightmare. THERE ARE SO MANY PUBLICATIONS. thank god im style locked into a select few! (truth disguised as joke) anyway - i'll post the final as soon as i can - im painting it tomorrow. WOOT!

ishmael

i recently did this illustration as a book review / commentary on the novel ishmael. first off, i REALLY liked the novel - even the very obvious ending. i thought alot about how i wanted to portray ishmael.
huge - but vulnerable. hulking. most importantly trapped - but not in a
conventional way - you see, obviously he understood how to be free and
how to save - yet he was still a captive. i tried to play with this
idea, extending the bars that confine him only to theparameters of his frame. so technically he's free - but obviously he's trapped.
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
freaky

somehow this never got posted

better late than never

SO AWESOME

i was featured on drawn.ca!!! its such an awesome site and i was so happy to see it!!!
AWESOME!!!
oh - and lots of new illustrations to be posted here soon. im just not able to post some of them yet...but soon!!

more mapmusic stuff

more logo stuff for map music, pretty simple but fun to do.

the cost of raising kids

for an article about the cost of raising kids. Tried some new stuff which was great and this was the first time i have made an image that just sits in white space. whatever the client wants right?! fun project!!!

this and that with design

so I've been doing alot of random design work since ive been in montreal. its really fun stuff. i know i know - but pete - you're an illustrator!! well i'll be posting new illustrations soon too - so chill. maybe even some sketchbook stuff. im serious. updated ALOT.
this was for mapmusic.org. its bsically this guy named robbie tucker who's raising money for research. the design was pretty simple for me - basically setting some type, getting rid of the previous logo on his shirt and the smudges on his guitar. fun part was coming up with a simple "hero" logo for mapmusic -heres the before and after - it was really fun to get to work with this guy and work with such a cool picture.
oh and BIG news soon too this week!

update

sorry for the lack of updates post school - ive just been so busy. in montreal right now - thats awesome - been having alot of fun! i am going to be updating way more as ive been busy illustrating - but just doing random things too. oh and these were cool
!\\

website!!!

my website is up - its a little small and might be rebuilt soon - but it works and im happy about that.

peterthomasryan.com

exciting times!

4 of 6 ... or something like that ... i cant remember

this is a piece for the series im working on about the womans life.
this was about a small business she ran. in our conversations she told
me that although she worked hard and made money she was paying out what
she was receiving. almost like she was a filter for the money - it was being slipped into her hand on one end and slipped out on the other.

theres also a quick second of it in context to an ongoing project - there is type to be placed that i will post...once placed

i had alot of fun painting the money and hope to incorporate more stuff like that into my work.
all acrylic

waiting

this is the front side of the mailer im putting out this spring - i'll post the reasoning and the printed version in a week or so. there is also the cropped - colour corrected version above
im pretty happy with how it looks and its going to be really exciting to have these to handout at our grad show -
WHICH EVERYONE SHOULD COME TO!

6 of 6 in the series

this piece is the sixth panel in the series and like the first one is subject to change slightly when put in context with the series - it discusses the womans ideology that cancer saved her life by giving her a second chance. theres alot i wanted to do with this one. first and foremost it was important to me that the amount of water she be surrounded by be infinite. i think thats important because it shows the dependency on the lymphoma ribbon life preserver - without it (the aspect of her life) she'd be a goner. in contrast to that it also establishes a sense of peace - i guess thats reinforced by the expression on her face. i also wanted to find a good balance of how much the life preserver looks like the ribbon and vice versa - i think i found a nice balance. i'll post the others in the series this week sometime
painted acrylic


EDIT* - i have added the revised final at the top. the changes were pretty minimal and really included adding some more water ripples at the bottom and a horizon line at the top. it was a big choice but i think benefits the piece both ascetically and emotionally.

1 of 6

this is the first in a series of six. the subject is of a woman dealing with / and carrying around her emotional childhood.

i'll post the others this week, its just been super busy.
painted in acrylic.
oh - it might also get modified slightly when the last ones are finished - if needed - but thats more or less it.

working

so heres the final. i took a few days away from it because i was starting to hate it - but im really glad its done and think it turned out awesome. i put it next to the "rough" to get an idea of where i began to where i finished as this post started as a process post. the eyes took a long time to paint. jeeez, but i got the effect i was hoping for. man, i have SO much work to get done before school ends - so i guess ill be posting more in the next few weeks. - i guess keep an eye out for that

RABEEZ

this is a 5"by5" spot about rabies. essentially the article discussed ways of getting rid of rabies through information and education.
i thought it was cool to "erase" the problem.
acrylic.

theres also an alternate version

first of 08'

so its 2008. hence the title of the blog. this is the first finished bit of illustration i've done. its for the cover of the magazine "travis". the two main focus' of the month of february are "going green" (ways of becoming more earth friendly) and valentines day. the challenge was to synthesize the two to create an image that speaks of both.
im very happy with the way the final turned out and will post a jpeg of it when its placed within the context of the magazine.
s'all acrylic.



*edit*
added recently is the in print version of the illustration. to really fit travis i worked into it digitally a bit and really saturated the colours. the whole idea is to make people want to pick it up.
its different from the origional in some ways but in alot of way i think its just stronger. hopefully it will be effective

the willies...

so this piece is for a "heaven and hell" project. like always i found a cool article about how country music is turning rock to stay popular. its sad times when hank williams cant do it for you anymore. so the obvious illustration solution for me was to paint willie nelson dressed up as gene simmons. this was so much fun to do.
its all acrylic silk screened and painted by hand blah blah blah.

think thin

this was for a book titled "the desperate womans guide to diet and exercise". the idea is that a desperate woman is going to go to any means necessary to get thin - thus is tying herself up nice and tight.

TIGHT!

new project

This is pretty fun - basically the project was to illustrate the palindrome "stressed desserts". I was told to find a secondary source of information to give the work some depth. I found this great article about how men lose their sex drive with age. Seems pretty self-explanatory from that point. In crit it was pointed out that it would be cool if the candle had a slight curve. Would have been cool - but I think this still totally stands up. Pun intended

another new post

This isn’t finished - but it’s basically a piece on equipping children with the tools to defend themselves. The part (likely most important) that isn’t finished is the little bubble wand she's blowing into to create the monster of a bubble. Im having a problem choosing the colour. ill likely let it sit for a while and come back at it soon with fresh perspective.
more things to come .

wine

this is a book cover illustration for the "how to" book - "the way to make wine". get it?? huh huh

big drip

this piece is for an editorial about the negative effects of bottled water consumption (pretty long story) and the final took a while to get to. i felt at first i had clearer solutions but this is the one the art director (rick) ended up going with - this is the first final ive made for rick sealock and he's a challenging guy - but really cool and im sure i'll make better images as a result of him.
its acrylic and silkscreen.